Tuesday, January 5, 2010

In a survey of 12,000 Europeans, approximately 90% were unaware that a thick waistline signals a number of health hazards including an increased risk of type-2 diabetes and heart disease.

Many previous studies have shown that excess fat around the waist is a strong indicator of a buildup of fat on the internal organs, called visceral fat. Visceral fat cannot be seen or felt, but poses some serious health risks. Only about 25% of the participants in the European study even realized that being overweight poses any health risks at all.

According to professor Steve Field, chair of the Royal College of GPs,"It is the weight around your belly which really does the harm." He also went on to say that "A lot of these things take a while to get into people's heads especially as there has been so much focus on weight and body mass index." And finally, "I'm not surprised at the findings because it will take more than a few academic papers to really change people's minds."